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Re: (erielack) EL way freight operations

As risk of diplaying my "geyserhood", I started working at IBM during the 
punched car era ( "BT"...before transistor).

To mess around with punch card you would need a card punch. This was a bulky 
affair like a small desk, although I think I recall a small hand punch for 
doing a single card. It was pretty easy to read what was on the card by 
simply examining the holes punched.

To use a card system you also would need a card sorter and a card printer. 
All these were big, electromechanical devices run by motors and controlled 
by relays.

Might add that starting back in the 1920s the railroads were one of the 
largest customers for IBM card systems. The Lackawanna had almost a whole 
floor of the depot in Scranton full of clerks working at machine to punch 
data into cards.

Chuck Yungkurth
Boulder CO


- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: <pat.moore_@_att.net>
To: <erielack1_@_yahoo.com>; "EL Mail List" <erielack@lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Friday, October 03, 2008 7:27 AM
Subject: Re: (erielack) EL way freight operations


> Bob...
>
> Thanks for coloring in more of the picture.
>
> I'm willing to bet that some people have some blank EL punch cards out 
> there, but does anyone have a working punch card reader?  Okay, that's a 
> little scary, I know...  Maybe there is a point when a model railroad 
> might get a bit too realistic, huh?
>
> -pat
>
>
>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: Robert Stafford <erielack1_@_yahoo.com>
>>
> Jim, you did a good job of telling it how it was. The other step was the
> inputing of the information into the computer system. The bigger stations 
> had
> terminals, teletype or IBM cards. When the crew got back to the terminal 
> and the
> conductor turned in his delay reprt and wheel report along with all of his
> switch list the cars where then inputed into the computer system as to 
> there
>> actual location, what time they where spotted or pulled, etc.
>>
>> Does anyone remember what the EL computer progaram was called?
>>
>> Bob Stafford
>> Marysville, WA
>>
>
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